The original author of the Serenity Prayer, embraced by Alcoholics Anonymous, twelve step program (AA) since 1950, remains a mystery, although across time a variety of sources have claimed credit.
The first form of the prayer originated with Boethius, the Roman philosopher (480-524 A.D.) and author of the book, Consolations of Philosophy. In 1943, the renowned theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote a prayer for a church service in a New England village. The premise of this prayer is the closest to the version of the Serenity prayer we say today. |
The Serenity Prayer
Full Version
God grant me the SERENITY to
accept the things I cannot change;
COURAGE to change the things I can;
and WISDOM to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it:
Trusting that He will make all things
right if I surrender to His Will;
that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen |